Frustrated by tiny municipalities clinging to home rule and obsessed with having their logos on dump trucks and patrol cars, Sweeney says he will propose legislation that gives a state commission the power to suggest ways towns can save money by sharing services.

If the towns balk at the recommendations, their state aid would be cut by the amount they would have saved. In other words, go Dutch or get docked.

“The carrot doesn’t work,” Sweeney says. “So, now it’s the stick.”

The stick is needed. Even though municipalities say they are sharing services more than ever, it’s still not enough. There are tens of millions of dollars to be saved.

The notion of sharing services often gets lip service from politicians who don’t really want to take a significant step in a process that eventually could lead to a merger — and the loss of their fiefdoms. But in a state of 566 municipalities, Sweeney and Gov. Chris Christie not only should demand the sharing of snow plows and secretaries, but they should push for consolidation, too.

Some mayors — including those who have been rebuffed in sharing attempts — embrace Sweeney’s idea, because a commission could do what they can’t: Force a neighbor to go halfsies.

Buena Vista’s Chuck Chiarello, incoming president of the League of Municipalities and mayor of 7,436, describes the shared services process this way: Apply for a state grant for a study; perform the study; then negotiate with the other town. “It took a year and a half,” he said. “By that time, everybody yielded to home rule.”

Some mayors don’t want to be forced to work together. They ask lawmakers instead to eliminate obstacles to voluntary cooperation — civil service, for example.

Fanwood mayor Colleen Mahr says local officials “know our communities the best,” and the state “at some point, should take their hands off our money.”

Of course, it’s taxpayers’ money, and many turf-protecting mayors aren’t working hard enough to spend it wisely. They need someone standing over them. With a stick.